Sallisaw begins district play hosting Ada for homecoming

Sallisaw begins 4A-District 4 play today hosting Ada at 7 p.m. after the Black Diamonds‚ homecoming ceremony.

Black Diamonds head coach Mark Hutson is getting his charges ready for a talented Ada squad. The Cougars return nine starters on both sides of the ball this year. With Ada bringing that much experience, it will make Sallisaw‚s task of coming out on top a tough one.

Ada is coming off a 42-16 win against Durant last Friday. The Cougars are bringing a non-district record of 2-1 against Class 5A teams with them tonight.

“We‚ve been watching Ada over the weekend and today,” Hutson said. “What a rich tradition they have, with all of their state championships. They come in with a 2-1 record, the only game they lost was to the No. 1-ranked team, McAlester, but they‚ve scored a lot of points.”

Preparations for Ada began as soon as the non-district game against Class 6A-II Tahlequah was over last Friday, where the Black Diamonds lost 38-27.

In spite of Sallisaw‚s loss last Friday, the Black Diamonds did put up their highest score of the season with their best offensive and special teams performances to date.

The Black Diamonds (0-3) had trouble getting the snap to quarterback Parker Jackson again, which needs to be addressed along with momentum-draining penalties that cost Sallisaw by wiping out some big gains.

Hutson‚s gameplan has always been to try different personnel in different schemes on all three phases to get the best personnel in the right slots before district play starts. The Black Diamonds look like they‚re making strides in that direction, with everything coming together in time to prepare for Ada.

“They run a mixture on offense, they‚ll run a wing-T, also spread the ball and run one back, so they‚re a lot to prepare for defensively. They‚re really a physical group. They get up the field, so it‚s going to be something that we have to work on – cutting off the penetration, because they‚re a tough, hard-nosed, physical group.”

The Cougars‚ offensive field general is returning quarterback Carter Freeland, who threw for 1,807 yards and 20 touchdowns last year.

Freeland is joined by three running backs in a spread two-back system, starting with senior Darius Gilmore with 706 yards and eight touchdowns last year, as well as juniors Xander Rhynes and Kendre Grant sharing duties in the backfield.

Ada has a receiving unit that can take any reception to the house, led by Andrew Hughes, who‚s the state champion high jumper who can bring down catches in a crowd and averaged 19.6 yards per reception last year.

The Cougars‚ defensive front consists of a quick and physical unit led by senior Caden Balthrop with 42 tackles and three sacks last year, along with fellow defensive end Will Johnson and nose guard Logan Prince rounding out Ada‚s three-man front.

Ada‚s linebacker skills make the Cougars an effective pass coverage unit made up of Fisher Marr, who made 55 stops last year; Kaden Gallagher with 54 tackles; and George Maddox, who made 70 stops during his sophomore season.

“It‚ll be a great challenge,” Hutson said. “It‚s homecoming week, the first homecoming for me here. There‚s a lot of excitement and a lot of things going on. We‚ll have to work and stay focused on the Ada Cougars.”

The homecoming parade is today at 1 p.m., and travels up Main Street and then Cherokee Avenue, turning onto Oak Street and finally Chickasaw Avenue, before ending where it began at Tommie Spear Middle School.